A "journey" involving running in place in the deep end. Quite possibly I've gone off the deep end.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Race report: Kentlands 5K, September 1, 2012

I ran the Kentlands 5K today, finishing in 19:10 gun time, which was
a PR and good enough for the age group win, so yay.

Originally, my plan for this weekend was to race something,
but the exact distance TBD.If it was
relatively cool weather, I’d go for a 5K, with the goal of breaking 19
(something that I believe I’m currently capable of, given good weather and a fair
course).If it was hot and humid, I’d
hit the local track meet instead, and race a mile.Again.

So, I registered for the Kentlands 5K, which is a fun course
that often produces fast times, and then took a wait and see approach.Of course, as luck would have it, the great
weather that we’ve been having decided to take a break for Labor Day weekend,
letting some steamy weather roll back in.I debated doing the track mile after all, but then decided to stick with
the 5K.I’ve raced plenty of miles this
summer, but I’ve only done one other race (a 5K) since May.And with a half-marathon coming up in two
weeks, I really wanted to race something longer than a mile.I needed a rust buster.

And, to be frank, it could quite possibly be sticky for my
goal races coming up this fall.Best to
get out there and get my racing feel back.And practice maintaining a confident and relaxed attitude when
conditions weren’t to my taste.Though I
can’t control the weather, I can control my attitude.

***

I warmed up for the race by jogging most of the course with
two teammates.I was familiar with the
course, having run it two years ago, but it was good to eyeball it again, and
remind myself of the rhythm of the hills (this course is a fun one, but it’s
constantly shifting from uphill to downhill, and from turn to turn.I did opt to stop at my car, and not follow
the course all the way to the finish line (*foreshadowing*).

Then drills and strides, lined up, and we were off.I rode the brakes pretty heavily at first, and
made sure to keep the first mile relaxed, so that I could build in the second
and third miles, and finish strong.I
noted with some amusement throughout that there were a large number of high
school boys in the race, and each of them seemed to get a bit upset when I
pulled alongside and then ahead.

Want to crush a teenage boy’s spirit?Just be an older female runner and pass him
during a race, while verbally encouraging him.

Wow, I’m really mean sometimes.

Anyhoo.I paced this
race really well for the whole part, I thought.I felt in control and confident, and allowed myself to really start to fly
when I saw the last turn coming up ahead. Rolled through there and around the
turn and…

Nope. Finish line not there.Apparently we had another ways to go, and then another turn, and then
the finish line was somewhere after that.

Oops.Probably a
higher power’s revenge on me for cheerfully trampling over the egos of teenage
boys.And I really should have jogged
the entire course.

A moment of despair flashed in my mind, but I pulled it
together and just focused hard on keeping everything together until we got to
the finish line.Wherever that was. Please let it be soon.I’ll never be mean again.

As it turns out, it
was a bit AFTER the final turn.Ack.It was a really painful
finish, as I tied up and my legs turned completely to lead, but I managed to keep
it together and not hemorrhage too much speed.

Ultimately, I think I would have been a bit faster if I hadn’t misjudged
the finish of the course, but I don’t think I lost that much time.Certainly not enough to make the difference
between breaking 19 or not.And it was a good reminder of the importance of not getting
impatient and rushing my finishes – one that will stand me in good stead for my
goal races.

Splits ended up being:

Mile 1: 6:15

Mile 2: 6:10

Last 1.11 miles: 6:45 (6:05 pace)

***

Other notes:

Took me 35 minutes to drive to the race from
Rosslyn, VA (picked up a friend first)

Temp was 73, DP 70.Yup. Sticky.It took me a while to recover after the race, which is annoying, as my
asthma meds had been helping with that.However, while the new meds were working great when it was just
humidity, the combination of humidity and high ragweed has been testing me the
last few weeks. But ragweed will only
last a few more weeks, and the weather will also improve when we get into fall.If I can PR now in conditions where I’m
challenged and also make some mistakes, then I can’t wait to see what I can run
this fall.

This race was the perfect choice for me today.Rust buster, confidence boost, PR, age group
win.Breaking 19 will likely have to
wait until after my first marathon, but that’s OK.I can be patient.

Full slew of race reports here (from my first in June 2007 to 2010) and here (2011).

workouts

(you can click on the link to see the details)

Pool running conversion

I convert my pool-running into “mileage” with this formula:

1)10 minutes “easy” in the pool equals one mile

2)workouts translate by time into mileage, with the recoveries not counting for mileage.For example, I would normally cover half a mile in 3:00 during an interval workout, and 1.5 miles in 10:00 during a tempo.So 8x3:00 at interval effort is 4 miles, and 10 minutes at tempo effort is 1.5 miles.